Third virus vaccine reaches major hurdle: Final US testing

A handful of the dozens of experimental COVID-19 vaccines in human testing have reached the last and biggest hurdle — looking for the needed proof that they really work.

AstraZeneca announces that its vaccine candidate has entered the final testing stage in the US. The Cambridge, England-based company says the study will involve up to 30,000 adults from various racial, ethnic and geographic groups.

Two other vaccine candidates began final testing this summer in tens of thousands of people in the US. One was created by the National Institutes of Health and manufactured by Moderna Inc., and the other developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech.

“To have just one vaccine enter the final stage of trials eight months after discovering a virus would be a remarkable achievement; to have three at that point with more on the way is extraordinary,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says in a statement.

NIH Director Francis Collins tweets that his agency “is supporting several vaccine trials since more than one may be needed. We have all hands on deck.”

AstraZeneca says development of the vaccine known as AZD1222 is moving ahead globally with late-stage trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa. Further trials are planned in Japan and Russia. The potential vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford and an associated company, Vaccitech.

— AP